System and Method for Advancing to a Predefined Portion of a Decompressed Media Stream

1. A method comprising: at a computer system including one or more processors and memory: generating, using a first codec, a first decompressed media stream based on a first compressed media stream; providing the first decompressed media stream to a presentation device; while providing the first decompressed media stream to the presentation device: receiving a second compressed media stream corresponding to a second decompressed media stream to be presented by the presentation device; initializing a second codec after the first codec has stopped decompressing the first compressed media stream so that no more than one codec is decompressing compressed media at a time; and generating, using the initialized second codec, the second decompressed media stream; and providing the second decompressed media stream to the presentation device instead of providing the first decompressed media stream to the presentation device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating, using the first codec, the first decompressed media stream based on the first compressed media stream comprises: receiving the first compressed media stream; decrypting the first compressed media stream; demultiplexing the first compressed media stream; storing decrypted and demultiplexed first compressed media stream data in a first compressed buffer; and decompressing the first compressed media stream data using the first codec.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein initializing the second codec and generating the second decompressed media stream are performed in response to receiving a content-transition indication indicating that the second decompressed media stream is to be provided to the presentation device instead of the first decompressed media stream.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising, at the computer system: prior to receiving the content-transition indication, storing a first amount of decompressed media stream data corresponding to the first decompressed media stream; and after receiving the content-transition indication, storing a second amount of decompressed media stream data corresponding to the first decompressed media stream that is larger than the first amount of decompressed media stream data.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein receiving the content-transition indication comprises detecting user input selecting a media content affordance associated with requesting presentation of the second decompressed media stream.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein: the content-transition indication corresponds to a request to display the second decompressed media stream starting at a point in the second decompressed media stream; and providing the second decompressed media stream to the presentation device comprises providing the second decompressed media stream without content prior to the point.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, at the computer system: detecting a decrease in bandwidth available for receiving media streams at the computer system; and in response to detecting the decrease in the bandwidth, transmitting, to a media source, a request for a lower bandwidth version of content corresponding to the first decompressed media stream; wherein the second compressed media stream is received in response to the request.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, at the computer system: detecting an increase in bandwidth available for receiving media streams at the computer system; and in response to detecting the increase in the bandwidth, transmitting, to a media source, a request for a higher bandwidth version of content corresponding to the first decompressed media stream; wherein the second compressed media stream is received in response to the request.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, at the computer system, after generating at least a portion of the second decompressed media stream, cross-fading first content from the first decompressed media stream with second content from the second decompressed media stream.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first compressed media stream corresponds to source content and the second compressed media stream corresponds to the same source content.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first compressed media stream and the second compressed media stream correspond to different source content.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, at the computer system: selecting a first transition point in first content corresponding to the first compressed media stream; and selecting a second transition point in second content corresponding to the second compressed media stream; wherein providing the second decompressed media stream to the presentation device instead of providing the first decompressed media stream to the presentation device comprises ceasing to provide the first content at the first transition point and starting to provide the second content at the second transition point.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein: the second transition point is selected in accordance with bandwidth available for receiving the second compressed media stream; and the first transition point is selected based on the second transition point.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising, at the computer system: determining a quantity of data corresponding to the second compressed media stream for downloading as buffered media based on: a target play time of the buffered media, and a bit rate of the second compressed media stream; predicting a buffering time that it will take to buffer the second compressed media stream based on: the quantity of data, and the bandwidth available for receiving the second compressed media stream; and identifying a plurality of candidate transition points in the second compressed media stream; wherein the second transition point is selected from the plurality of candidate transition points based on the predicted buffering time.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein: the method further comprises, at the computer system, after selecting the second transition point, requesting the second compressed media stream starting at the second transition point; and receiving the second compressed media stream corresponding to the second decompressed media stream comprises receiving the second compressed media stream starting at the second transition point.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising, at the computer system: receiving the first compressed media stream; and after selecting the first transition point, terminating receipt of the first compressed media stream after receiving data corresponding to the first transition point.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein: the first content includes video content that is divided into a first plurality of groups of frames; the second content includes video content that is divided into a second plurality of groups of frames; the first transition point in the first content is selected so as to occur at a boundary of a first group of frames in the first plurality of groups of frames; and the second transition point in the second content is selected so as to occur at a boundary of a second group of frames in the second plurality of groups of frames.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein: the first transition point corresponds to an end of a scene in the first decompressed media stream; and the second transition point corresponds to a beginning of a scene in the second decompressed media stream.

19. A computer system comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: generating, using a first codec, a first decompressed media stream based on a first compressed media stream; providing the first decompressed media stream to a presentation device; while providing the first decompressed media stream to the presentation device: receiving a second compressed media stream corresponding to a second decompressed media stream to be presented by the presentation device; initializing a second codec after the first codec has stopped decompressing the first compressed media stream so that no more than one codec is decompressing compressed media at a time; and generating, using the initialized second codec, the second decompressed media stream; and providing the second decompressed media stream to the presentation device instead of providing the first decompressed media stream to the presentation device.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a computer system with one or more processors, cause the computer system to: generate, using a first codec, a first decompressed media stream based on a first compressed media stream; provide the first decompressed media stream to a presentation device; while providing the first decompressed media stream to the presentation device: receive a second compressed media stream corresponding to a second decompressed media stream to be presented by the presentation device; initialize a second codec after the first codec has stopped decompressing the first compressed media stream so that no more than one codec is decompressing compressed media at a time; and generate, using the initialized second codec, the second decompressed media stream; and provide the second decompressed media stream to the presentation device instead of providing the first decompressed media stream to the presentation device.